The time has come to say farewell......

Post by **Welly** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 1:17 pm

You can get a washed-up thrashed and crashed 1995 R33 GTS-t for about £3,200.00 right up to a very cherished original 1995 R33 GTR for £15,000.00

The trick, IMO is to buy an original unmolested example and then do your own modifications as you wish. My friend had a GTS-t which was standard and he had a HKS Hyper Dragger fitted, Sequential BOV and Induction kit and it tranformed the thing into a flame-shooting racer (but still on standard boost)

TooT · Post by **TooT** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:42 pm

Welton wrote:
A top spec VW or Audi.

The funny thing is, my 406 is such a high spec I would miss some of the toys like memory heated seats etc and would almost find a replacement difficult and a compromise.

Thats were im coming from. I would miss my luxuries bigtime.

edit - Found mine, but auto is nae good to me

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-VW-VOLKSWAGE ... dZViewItem

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:27 pm

I'm still going to say another D8 406 turbo exec, otherwise maybe a 407 SW or a 605/607 all depending on when my trusty steed dies

ThePrisoner · Post by **ThePrisoner** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:12 pm

Well i'm gonna run my exec into the ground before considering my next car.

My 6 is currently on 64k, but if I get my transfer to Devon then after 2 years of commuting then she will be on 120k+

Dunno if she would go any further then that, but same with me I would miss all of my luxuries, and find it hard to downgrade to an inferior car.

Having said that I would seriously consider buying a 2007(last of the range) Skoda Fabia vRS unmolested. But i'd want one of the special edition ones with leather seats, cruise control etc....

Pris.

jameslxdt · Post by **jameslxdt** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:36 pm

Foghorn Leghorn wrote:Not these exact ones of course (want a manual).
Both 2.3 turbo kicking out 250bhp, and are selling for silly money now. £5k should get a 2001 model with sub 100k mileage. T5 engine is good for nearly 500bhp before there are serious issues (wouldn't want to go that far bought a bit of tuning would be nice )

Currently doing my homework as to common issues and things to look out for. Insurance for the volvo is only £30 a year more than the 406

Shame the only do about 20-25mpg, which is why the winner will be paying a visit to Warrington autogas for an lpg conversion.

A SAAB??? yuuuuuuk, what a piece of crap

as a friend once said to me, they are built for aliens

as for the T5 taking 500bhp,

they are pretty much on there limit as it is ive seen many throw a 'rod through the block, and a T5 of that vintage will only have 240bhp, some words of advice, avoid the V70 'R', if you must have once get an 850 R, the autoboxes break all the time, though usually its poor diagnosis, the 4WD system is one of the WORST ever designed, the transfer boxes, propshafts and manual gearboxes, especially the M58 are very weak, and as for running costs, you'll need a mortgage, as for the T5, get a manual for the sake of 10bhp more its well worth it, get one with the B5234T7 (i think) engine, weak spots? where do i start on the post 2000 models you will have - mullerd front wishbones, ABS computers, ETM failure (though now they have come down in price) exhaust, wheel bearings, heated seats, brakes are very expensive, front tyres wont last more than 10,000 miles
i could go on all week but i wont

Foghorn Leghorn · Post by **Foghorn Leghorn** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:00 pm

The Saabs already off the menu, serious oil starvation issues, Saab recommend dropping the sump and cleaning out the sludge and oil pickup every 24k

Now people, can we say 'design flaw'!!

Spent the last few weeks trawling the t5 forums and theres alot of people running well over stock, the standard RICA tune (Volvo tuning bods) remaps to 310bhp from 250 bhp (at the fly). Reading through the forum, I haven't come across anyone with engine troubles what so ever, the general consensus being the engine is good for alot more power, the first sign of trouble is bore cracking when getting close to 500bhp. T5 block and gearboxes are renowned for being very robust.

Theres also quite a few people running explod t5's with close to 200k on the clock with no trouble s from the engine/gearbox area.

850's are getting a bit long in the tooth now, would want a phase 2 V70 estate.

Fog

Foghorn Leghorn · Post by **Foghorn Leghorn** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:12 pm

Just been checking the forums again, the conrod issues seem to be with the 850 not the V70. Main hassle with the v70 is the ecm but already new that. All cars have their achillies heal, as long as you're prepared for it.

Running cost wise is a bit rough 14mpg around town, 25mpg ish motorway. Would have to be a gas conversion if I decide to get one. Been chatting with a guy from a local autogas fitter. Hes done subarus, maseratis etc and seems very confident that a t5 would be no trouble.

Chances are i'll be looking at something different in a few months

Fog

jameslxdt · Post by **jameslxdt** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:12 pm

well as i said i have seen standard engines go pop
they are pretty good cars as long as you dont mind spending a small fortune keeping the thing going

mbell666 · Post by **mbell666** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:17 pm

My current plan is to replace mine in about two years, want to see it past 200K!

Currently planing on Honda Accord 2.2CDTI sport or exec. My brother boss has one which will be coming of lease in about 2 years, hoping might get that for a good price, if he doesn't keep it for his wife

!

Foghorn Leghorn · Post by **Foghorn Leghorn** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:23 pm

There will always be some that go pop (unless its japanese of course).

mbell, must admit I like the diesel accord too, would have to be the tourer though.

Fog

mbell666 · Post by **mbell666** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:07 pm

not so sure about the tourer! I think the roof bars make theall the differnce, with out them its just too long and never ending, with them it looks good.

Am a saloon man myself.

Foghorn Leghorn · Post by **Foghorn Leghorn** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 11:25 pm

I need the boot space and the easy load height that you get with estates/tourers etc.

Fog

Post by **Welly** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:09 am

Foghorn Leghorn wrote:Reading through the forum, I haven't come across anyone with engine troubles what so ever

Of course you should be wary that many forums are full of bull shitters.

Thank god it doesn't happen here eh?

jameslxdt · Post by **jameslxdt** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:27 pm

Foghorn Leghorn wrote:Just been checking the forums again, the conrod issues seem to be with the 850 not the V70. Main hassle with the v70 is the ecm but already new that. All cars have their achillies heal, as long as you're prepared for it.

Running cost wise is a bit rough 14mpg around town, 25mpg ish motorway. Would have to be a gas conversion if I decide to get one. Been chatting with a guy from a local autogas fitter. Hes done subarus, maseratis etc and seems very confident that a t5 would be no trouble.

Fog

the ABS computers are also always going wrong alot, and on the post 2001 models they are BCM's or Brake Control Modules that cost arround £900 and require software

all the suspension components are very weak, especially wishbones and shock abosorbers
you will get far bettter economy than that, you should see 35mpg cruising at 60mph, and 22mpg nursing it arround town, which is the same as my 2.0 406
as for a gas conversion that is just asking for trouble, you will no end of problems with LPG, as it raises the combustion temperature significantly, burnt valves, piston slap and knock sensors are usually the first sort of issues with a gas conversion, i would highly NOT recommend it, dont even bother with the volvo factory Bi-FUEL V70 as these go wrong often too, the gas distribution chamber burns out and you are left with a permenant misfire under acceleration when running on gas, if you want a high performance volvo estate go for one of the very last V40 T4's, they are just as rapid, but a far cheaper car to maintain and a hell of a lot more reliable

Post by **Welly** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:35 pm

jameslxdt wrote:piston slap

I love that word

I agree with James, LPG is bad news for petrol engines. Within 20,000 miles it will be f*cked for sure (especially a turbo'd one). My mechanic has them in all the time, funnily enough just after they've failed the MOT on the 'petrol side' of the emissions test